Friday, April 13, 2012

Minecraft: Day Five and More

I've spent the last couple days grinding on a new layout for my other web site (the beta site is here if you care), and I'm ready to do some Minecraft. I think the one day per post format is a bit too restrictive, since I find myself pausing play to write or take screenshots fairly often. From now on I think I'll just play a while and write what happens.

Side note: I put up an index page, which I'll try to keep up to date as I write new entries for this series.

When I ended last session it was the end of day four. Night had fallen and it had started to snow. Icky weather means doing some interior work. I decided to do some digging to see what I could find under my hole in the wall. Unsurprisingly, monsters.

Yes. Zombies.

After duking it out with a couple of skeletons and zombies, I end up with a few arrows and a couple hunks of rotten meat. At least I manage to light up a couple of the nearby caves so there will be fewer monsters spawning in the future. Sadly, there's not much in the way of good minerals just below my hideout, but that's OK, daylight is coming.

Despite the bad weather I decide to head out to the greenhouse site and do some work. I manage to finish out the frame and test out most of the water flow before night falls. On the way back to my hovel I cross paths with a wolf. He seems quite taken with my supply of zombie flesh, so once I find a bone or two I'll see if I can tame him.

The base of the greenhouse, with the water running.

Back home, I fire up the furnace and make some glass for the greenhouse. I'll need more sand to do it right, but it's a start. I'll also have to start doing some real excavation so I can make some paving stones and such. For now I have a ton of lumber so I'll frame things out with wood. With the furnace running it's time for another delve into the pits. This time I manage to kill a spider and a creeper. One piece of string down. Soon I'll be able to make a bow or fishing rod. Running back to base I also kill a skeleton, who drops me a couple of bones. Time to tame a wolf! With a wolf in tow combat becomes a little less scary, as they'll help kill monsters.

Sadly it is not to be. The wolf is unimpressed with my offering of four bones. I'm a dog person, I swear! I guess I'll have to find some more skeletons to kill. To that end I stop off on my way to the greenhouse site to dig up a bit of iron for armor. And speaking of the greenhouse. It's starting to take shape. I am far enough that I can drop the first crop into the ground. It doesn't look all that impressive, but it's a start.

First crop

Of course there's still work to do, like lighting and glassing in the rest of the structure, but hunger is becoming an issue, and I want to lay in a supply of food before I start serious exploration. There's also the matter of that torch beacon to work on... There's always more to do in Minecraft!

Side note: I apparently suck at screen shots. I just got jumped by a drider and failed to snap a picture, even though he was on the other side of a door. Lame. The good news is, he dropped a bow, so I have a ranged weapon now! The bad news is, I'm really running out of food now. Tomorrow I'll have to dedicate my time to hunting, as the wheat farm hasn't produced anything yet. At least I won't get lost.

The beacon from a distance, in the rain. Still visible!

The beacon worked, and just as I approached starvation level hunger, I stumbled upon a herd of cows tangled up in jungle undergrowth. A few swift sword strokes later, and... Mmmm. Steak!

Last but not least, I finally convinced the wolf that's been hanging around to be my friend. I shall call him Sarge, in memory of the many many dogs that died in Nethack bearing that name.